Mr. Bayo Onanuga, the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, has urged editors of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) to fact-check news reports before publication.
Onanuga, the former Managing Director of NAN, made the call at the agency’s 5th Editorial Management Retreat on Tuesday in Kaduna.
In a paper presentation tagged “A subscriber’s expectation of NAN copy,” he analysed some news contents of the agency, highlighting its weaknesses and strengths.
According to him, NAN copies are expected to be factual, detailed, contemporaneous, relevant, and delivered in good time.
He said that the agency, with its wide network of correspondents, was expected to be the news leader in supplying timely news about Nigeria, Africa, and the world in the best of journalism traditions.
He, however, said that many competent journalists had exited the agency, resulting in a vacuum that needed to be filled.
“Journalists retire when they clock 60 or 35 years of service.
“NAN lost many competent hands in this way,” Onanuga said. (NAN)
